Instep-arch support.



zwsmaw J57 I V Invent?! M Ya/30% Patented Apr. 20, 1915.,

5 'insteps, rotated foot, contracted foot, etc.,

WILLIAM M. scnoLL, or cnrcneo, ILLINOIS.

INSTEP-ARCH SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

Application filed January 3, 1918. Serial No. 739,984.

To all whom'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. SoHoLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have, invented certain new and useful Improvements in Instep-Arch Supports, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in instep arch supports and more particularly to arch supports wherein the structure carrying the weight of the plantar arch is of a soft or yielding nature.

It frequently happens that ailments of the human foot such as weak or broken down produce such tenderness and sensitiveness that the patient is unable to wear the usual form of arch support made of steel or other metal covered by leather, and in such cases it has been customary to employ non-metallic pads or supports receivin bearing from the shank of the shoe to a 0rd more or less support to the plantar arch of the foot. Such structures are generally unsatisfactory in that, relying upon the shank of Y the shoe for support, the correct lines of the boot or shoe are soon destroyed, the uplift afforded is usually inefficient, and the arch member is not subject to ready adjustment to secure in the same a predetermined degree of uplift.

In the embodiment of. my present invention I provide a yielding, comfortable arch support, self supporting without reliance upon the stiffness of the shank of the shoe, and susceptible of ready ad ustment to vary the extent of uplift.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a plan of parts broken away and the cover removed showing an embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a flexible cushioning support, preferably made of spongy, vulcanized rubber or similar material, molded or otherwise shaped for general conformity with the under-surface of the human foot. The heel portion 11 is preferably concaved on its upper surface to afford a' comfortable seatfor the heel of the wearer.

12 indicates the arch portion of the structure, preferably gradually thickened to maximum thickness under the highest part of the plantar arch for spring and resiliency, having its upper surface longitudinally and transversely arched for conform- I ity with the under side of the instep arch of I embed a metallic arch-plate 15, preferably so shaped and located as to give support to the astragalus and scaphoid bones, and so positioned in the rubber body as to bring it near the under surface of the thickened central portion thereof, leaving a relatively thick resilient pad between said metal plate and the foot of the wearer but substantially completely inclosing said plate in the rubber body. The length of the plate 15 is such that its ends span points longitudinally beyond the shank of the shoe so that the pressure of the device is carried by the shoe on portions of the sole and heel best calculated to afford proper bearing without distortion or mis-shapement of the shoe.

In order that the metal plate may not unduly wear or cut the subjacent rubber body I underlay each end of the plate with a strip of fabric such as heavy canvas, as indicated at 17, vulcanizing the canvas into the rubber, together with the plate, in the process of manufacture. The metal plate obviously may be adjusted in curvature to suit the requirements of the foot of the wearer, and that in order the resilient pad may not make difficult the work of adjustment I preferably provide in the upper and lower parts of the body of. rubber adjacent to the highest point of the'arch-plate 15 opposing recesses or apertures 18 and 19 extending substantially to the metal plate itself. In these recesses an anvil member and a clamp member of the bending device may be inserted for substantial contact with the metal. Other apertures 20 may be made in the rubber extending through the metalnear the extremities thereof so that although the metal is substantially completely invested by the rubber, it may, for adjusting purposes, be directly acted upon by bending instrumentalities.

In practice it is often advantageous to cover the rubber with chamois skin or other light flexible material as indicated at 22,

and heretofore described.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1'. In an instep arch support, the combination of a body of rubber shaped to conform with the plantar surface of the foot, from the 'heel thereof substantially to the ball of the foot, said body being thickened at the central portion thereof, and a metallic plate embedded in said rubber near the under side thereof and extending longitudinally to points oppositely beyond the shank of the foot to afford two bearing points between the ball and the heel of the foot and relieve the shank portion of the shoe from the same without decreasing substantially the resiliency of the thick rubber portion surrounding said metallic plate.

2. Inan instep arch support, the combination of a metal plate, arched to receive substantial supportfrom the shoe only at its ends, and a body of rubber shaped to conform with the plantar surface of the foot from the heel thereof substantially to the ball of the foot, investing said plate and positioning the same in the shoe, said rubber body having recesses therein extending substantially to the plate contiguous to the central portion of said plate.

3. In an instep arch support, the combination of a metal plate, arched to receive substantial support from the shoe only at its ends, and a body of rubber shaped to conform with the plantar surface of the foot from the heel thereof substantially to the ball of the foot, investing said plate for positioning the same in the shoe, said rubber body having recesses therein extending substantially to the plate contiguous to the central and end portion .of said plate.

4. In an instep arch support the combination of a metal plate, arched to receive substantial support from the shoe only at its ends, and a body of rubber shaped to conform with the plantar surface of the foot from the heel thereof substantially to the ball of the foot, investing said plate for positioning the same in the shoe, said rubber body being thickened above the central portion of the plate and having recesses therein extending substantially to the plate contiguous to the central portion of said plate.

5. As an article of manufacture an instep arch support comprising a body of material having the essential qualities of rubber, having its upper surface curved for substantial conformity with'the under side of a human instep arch, to extend from beneath the ball thereof to beneath the heel of the foot and to extend from the outside edge of the foot up the highly arched inner surface at the shank of the foot, the under surface of saidbody being shaped for substantial conformity with the shank of a normal shoe, andhaving a curvature longitudinally and transversely which gives to said body maximum thickness at about the highest point of the arch in a longitudinal direction and at about the juncture of the body portion and the side extension in a transverse direction, and a metallic plate embedded in and positioned by saidrubber, said plate curved in substantial parallelism 1 with the normal curve of the bottom of the so rubber and located in the rubber near the.

' under side thereof, said plate extending longitudinally to points oppositely beyond the shank of the foot to afford two bearing points between the ball and heel of the foot 35 and relieve the shank portion of the shoe from same, without decreasing substantially the resiliency of the thick rubber portion surmounting said metallic plate.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM M. SOHOLL.

In the presence of-' Fomn BAIN, MARY F. ALLEN. 

